As Greater Boston's community foundation, the Boston Foundation is focused on the myriad of factors which make our city unique and successful. With an emphasis on strengthening this region's competitiveness in the global economy, the Foundation works with many partners to publish cutting edge research, hold public forums, and convene task forces of experts and stakeholders to create action agendas for real change.
Social justice movements have a long and important history in America. The Boston Foundation, like many other funders, is recognizing the critical role we can and must play in this space. We have expanded our investment in these leaders and movements, and are implementing a new movements strategy into our grantmaking called Social Justice Ecology.
Read more
The Boston Foundation Arts & Culture team, the Barr Foundation and the Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture center racial equity, transparency and accountability in new approach to grantmaking.
Read more
The Place Leadership Network highlighted place leaders' roles in maintaining the health, vibrancy and resiliency of their communities and expanded access to policy and philanthropic resources. A new report details the findings of PLN, exploring how philanthropic institutions and policymakers can equitably support placemaking and placekeeping.
Read more
Prompted by the economic need, our long standing interest in community colleges and the equity imperative, the Boston Foundation and its donor partners zeroed in on the importance of work-based learning opportunities to help community college students get their foot in the door - particularly in STEM fields. Grants to four community colleges will seed and support new and existing efforts that level the playing field for community college students, with hope of laying a scalable groundwork for a fairer system.
Read more
Inspired in part by growing up in Boston during desegregation, Robert Lewis, Jr. has dedicated his life to bringing people together and, for the last eight years, has been using baseball to "cultivate excellence" in youth at his organization The BASE. Robert Lewis, Jr. worked at the Boston Foundation until 2013, and The BASE is a Foundation grantee.
Read more
In a series of interviews on Black History Month, Black leaders in Boston - including Imari Paris Jeffries, Rob "ProBlak" Gibbs, Monica Cannon-Grant and more - reflected on their efforts to impact the communities they live and work in. They celebrated each other’s work, recognized the progress that’s been made and called for changes still needed in Boston and across the nation.
Read more
Community health centers are gearing up for an expanded role in the state’s vaccination effort, widening the pathway into the neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19. The piece explores what Boston Foundation grantees East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and Brockton Neighborhood Health Center are doing to get their communities vaccinated as equitably and efficiently as possible.
Read moreCambridge’s Kendall Square is well known as a hotbed for innovation, particularly in biotech. But starting this month, the area is getting an infusion of artistic innovation, too. Cambridge’s The Dance Complex has opened a new creative space called The Dance Complex @ Canal District Kendall (a.k.a. Complex@Canal) in a 4,000-square-foot retail unit at 650 East Kendall St. The Dance Complex is a Boston Foundation grantee and a member of the Place Leadership Network.
Read more
A web collection and a new report capture some of the impacts and lessons learned of the Place Leadership Network, a year-long pilot bringing together a diverse cohort of place-based organizations to learn, build a network, and work toward creating more equitable spaces in Greater Boston
Download the report
Before COVID-19 forced school closures across Massachusetts, the Boston Foundation partnered with the Rennie Center to conduct a case study of the Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School. The case study tells the Banneker’s remarkable story of school improvement and sustained excellence, describing how the school achieves success by creating an environment that celebrates and affirms the culture and identity of every student, family, and staff member.
Download the report
The 2020 Boston Foundation Annual Report features 20 local leaders, making a difference each day through their work in what has been an unprecedented year for Boston and its people.
Download the report
The Boston Opportunity Agenda updates its annual look at the state of early education in Boston, and finds the COVID-19 pandemic has put even greater strain on the sector, reducing the number of available seats and putting current care and the future economic recovery at risk.
Download the report
The end of 2020 was marked by the announcement of a new President and CEO for the Foundation, conversations with leaders across the U.S. about racial inequality and economic justice, and research that proposes bold solutions to intractable problems.